As the falling axe approached, something like a spotlight fell on that little blip that represented the Abyss Sovereign. The illusion that reality itself was bending and curving around the dark dot was so vivid that Gemini trembled uncontrollably. Something so absolute had wrapped around that little dot, something transcendental.

His conscious mind didn’t know what that something was, but his instincts did.

Fate itself had gathered on that little dot there, in such a volume that Gemini simply trembled with fear at that sight.

“What is this?” Thasvia murmured. “How can this be? My Divine Will…”

“Were we already too late?” Hereward trembled. “Impossible. We have not yet reached the halfway mark! He couldn’t have affirmed his path yet!”

The Sentinel of Space took a deep breath, before glowing once more. “Liamar’s going to lose if we do nothing. Therefore, there’s no point building up for huge moves now. Right before the axe falls, we’ll pull him into a battle of Divine Will and corner him. Got it?”

Gemini nodded, before gathering the divinity he could spare into a claymore, which he held in one hand. It was a weapon that should be wielded with both arms, but that was an axiom that only held true for mortals. The size didn’t actually matter, since anything went in battles of Divine Will — he just wanted something that was a symbolic upgrade from his Unique Skills as a Constellation.

Thasvia kept her staff, before taking out a…

Gemini glanced at the huge rod, and then did a doubletake. For a moment, he debated with himself as to whether he should speak up or anything, but it didn’t seem like a good time for levity now.

Absurd sights, apparently, could overcome even the benefaction of fate itself.

Shaking his head, the Demon Sovereign lowered his body, divinity gushing around him like a loaded gun. Once Hereward gave a command, he would pull the Abyss Sovereign into a battle of Divine Will, along with the others, to create an opening in which the enemy was vulnerable.

“Now!”

With a single thought, Gemini designated an area that covered both him and the Abyss Sovereign, and his divinity roiled madly as the designated area blurred out. The others did the same, and Gemini split apart his thought strands, preparing for a battle across multiple sub-realities.

A small trace of doubt filled the pit of his stomach a moment later, as Gemini realised that the odd sensation of overseeing multiple realities at once failed to materialise. With another surge of his will, Gemini repeated the process once more, and the doubt swiftly morphed into fear.

“Impossible,” Hereward muttered beside him. “He’s…resisting our wills.”

“Not just that,” Thasvia added, her voice pained. “He’s fixing reality in this area. We can’t split it apart. He must have done it after seeing how you changed natural laws, Hereward.”

“No choice,” said Hereward. “We fire off everything we can, and then get Liamar to safety. The Abyss Sovereign has advanced too quickly; if we are to win, we need to bring everyone’s Divine Kingdoms to bear upon him. Our true bodies alone won’t cut it.”

“Even your Divine Kingdoms?”

“Yes, Gemini. Everyone in them. All the familiar spirits in this world. The Five Lands united will not defeat the Abyss Sovereign, who has seen for himself how the Demon God was killed. The great gods must truly unite too.” Hereward clenched his fist. “The Abyss Sovereign put everything on the line for this festival of creation. We should have done the same long ago.”

“Yes,” said Thasvia. “We’ve failed this round. We won’t fail the next.”

“Prepare to save Liamar,” said Hereward, his eyes turning on the falling axe. The Abyss Sovereign hadn’t moved an inch ever since he stepped outside the tower, choosing to watch as the enormous blazing edge closed in on him instead.

A second sun rippled into existence a moment later as the axe finally landed on the black dot. A solid wall of wind whipped outwards with a savage ferocity as another world-shaking thunderclap tore apart the clouds, and giant waves the size of mountains surged out from the Central Circle. The shattered space that surrounded the Central Circle absorbed the overwhelming shockwaves that sent ripples through the air itself, and Hereward let out a grunt as he directed a few thought strands into stopping the growth of these dimensional fractures.

No one, save for the four great gods and the Abyss Sovereign, could have seen the whole process without dying on the spot. The Central Circle itself was groaning madly, with the enormous walls that surrounded it quivering and crumbling apart. Save for the ominous tower that stood in the very centre of the continent, the vast, elaborate defences were falling apart from that moment in which the axe met the Abyss Sovereign.

The concentrated ball of heat and light flickered a second later, and the small kindling of flame in Gemini’s heart winked out.

That gigantic blow, capable of felling the Central Circle had it landed directly, was unable to progress an inch. Gemini could not see what the Abyss Sovereign had done with his eyes, but his divine sense was telling him that the monster in the shape of a human had blocked the axe with a small wall.

“Go!”

Hereward’s shout roused Gemini from his stupor, and the three of them shot skywards, to where the gigantic form of the Worldshaper was. The God of Fire was visibly straining against the impeccable defences of the Abyss Sovereign, the veins of brilliant magna that lined his body darkening by the second.

The Abyss Sovereign was counterattacking in ways Gemini couldn’t decipher.

“Pull back!” Hereward screamed. “Back off! We can’t win!”

The enormous giant shot a glance at the Sentinel of Space, and then at Thasvia and Gemini. An odd emotion filled Gemini’s heart, and with a jolt, he realised that it was that of helplessness.

Of resignation.

Forgive me, brothers, sister. I shall head off for my rest first.

Liamar, the God of Fire, began to crumble away.

“No!” Hereward let out an uncharacteristic roar, and then plunged into the heart of the disintegrating giant. Without exchanging any words, Gemini and Thasvia wheeled around to face the unmoving black dot. At this distance, the Abyss Sovereign was still indistinguishable from the howling darkness that surrounded him.

“He’s not moving,” said Gemini.

“Liamar can still be saved,” Thasvia added. “But…”

A silvery-grey streak shot out of the crumbling giant, a small red rock in his hands as he returned to their sides.

“We’ve lost,” said Hereward. “Retreat. The Abyss Sovereign will not pursue…for now, anyway.”

As the three of them fled the scene, Orb began to quake.

Three hours were up.

This festival of creation had crossed the halfway mark.